Lisa Lampanelli to Host 2011 AVN Awards

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—They call her Comedy's Lovable Queen of Mean ... and come January 8, 2011, Lisa Lampanelli will turn her notoriously venomous tongue on the most sordid crowd in showbiz as host of the 28th annual AVN Awards Show at the Pearl Theater inside Las Vegas' Palms Casino Resort.

One of the preeminent insult comics of her generation, Lampanelli has gained nationwide fame over the last decade primarily via her appearances on Comedy Central's celebrity roasts. A favorite regular dais member, she has delivered some of the most memorable verbal lashings in the roasts of Jeff Foxworthy, Pamela Anderson, Flavor Flav, William Shatner, Larry the Cable Guy and David Hasselhoff, among others.

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Lampanelli has also been a regular on The Howard Stern Show and starred in two of her own Comedy Central stand-up specials, Take It Like a Man and Dirty Girl. She followed those up with an hour-long 2009 special for HBO entitled Lisa Lampanelli: Long Live the Queen. The same year, her memoir, Chocolate, Please: My Adventures in Food, Fat and Freaks was published by HarperCollins.

"It's so exciting to be named as host of the AVN Awards. Thank God Betty White had a scheduling conflict!" Lampanelli joked to AVN. "No, seriously, this is a dream come true. I always wanted to host a show in a room full of pussies, boobs and giant dicks, but they wouldn't let me host the MTV Video Music Awards! I'm also excited because I'll finally have an excuse to wear those crotchless panties I've been saving for a special occasion."

Raved AVN Media Network founder Paul Fishbein, "I couldn't be more excited to have one my favorite comics in the world co-hosting the AVN Awards Show. Lisa's humor is perfect for our industry, and along with our two amazing co-hosts, Tori and Riley, I expect this to be the funniest and most entertaining awards show yet."

Lampanelli adds her name to an elite roster of acclaimed comics who have hosted the AVN Awards over the event's nearly 30-year history, including Dave Attell, Greg Fitzsimmons, Jim Norton, Bobby Slayton, Bill Hicks, Richard Jeni and the recently passed Robert Schimmel.